Scientists link plastic food containers with breast cancer (The Guardian)

(Sorry to give you One more thing to worry about, but think of this, even though these are American Researchers, in Boston, you most likely won't see this "corporate Profit killing" story in an American Newscast.):evilfrown:

Scientists link plastic food containers with breast cancer

James Meikle, health correspondent
Monday May 30, 2005
The Guardian

A chemical widely used in food packaging may be a contributing factor to women developing breast cancer, scientists have suggested. The study links the compound to the development of hormone sensitive tissue in mice and has prompted environmental campaigners to call for far tighter regulation of such chemicals.

Experiments at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, have potentially worrying implications for human health since they suggest mammary glands of female mice grow in a way that makes them more likely to develop breast cancer and also to respond unusually to oestrogen, which fuels most breast cancer in humans.

The compound involved is called bisphenol-A or BPA. It is used in plastic food containers, cans and dental sealants and other research suggests it leaches from products and is absorbed in low concentrations by the human body,

The scientists behind the latest findings say in the journal Endocrinology that they are involved in further work to test the hypothesis that exposure in the womb and shortly after birth to BPA in particular, and to oestrogens in general, might increase people's susceptibility to breast cancer.

(more at link above)

There was a time when refrigerators were full of glass containers.They were not airtight, and they did break when you dropped them, but I can't help but think that plastics might be hurting us.. I never even let my one baby who took a bottle, use plastic.. The other two were breastfed, and I admit, we did use tupperware sippee cups, but we have very few plastic glasses..

I buy milk in cardboard cartons..not plastic..

Plastics are relatively "new" in the overall scheme of things, but unfortunately we have all been bombarded with so much "manmade" stuff,it will be impossible to pinpoint the "problems"..

Our food is adulterated, our cookware is adulterated, and our food storage containers are adulterated.. We're a bunch of guinea pigs:(

wax-coated. but that's a petroleum product anyway.

Get ready to do a lot more cooking at home.

sad.

in their collection.

Over time, it has deteriorated and 'melted'.

Not stable stuff.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/10/991021075812.htm
Plastic Chemicals Could Be Cause Of Reproductive, Weight Problems, MU Researchers Say

Over the past decades, researchers have reported a dramatic increase in the number of overweight Americans, reproductive deformities and the number of youth reaching puberty at early ages. In the past, these findings have been attributed to nutrition, lifestyle and genetics. However, in an article to be published in Nature this week, a team of researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia and North Carolina State University report that a chemical estrogen that is used to make plastics could be a contributing factor.


And why did they ever consider looking at Bisphenol A for breast cancer??
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/04/030401072838.htm

The scientists found that the colony’s semi-rigid plastic cages had deteriorated as the result of a handler’s use of the wrong cleaner – a harsh detergent – which damaged the cages and led to the release of small amounts of the plasticizer bisphenol A, which is often abbreviated as BPA.

This low level exposure led to “highly significant” increases in abnormalities in the mice’s developing eggs, called oocytes. These results were then confirmed in an experiment in which the animals’ eggs were deliberately exposed, the scientists reported.

<snip>

If this doesn't get the mostly male politicos in Washingtons attention, nothing will:

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4610971

I was thinking that all they really needed to do was lie to them by telling them that it "turns you gay," I bet the research money would pour in from the Religious Right.

http://atmizzou.missouri.edu/jun03/printpage.php

By nature, Fred vom Saal is not a crusader, but he doesn’t want to wait 10 years for a governmental agency to ban a chemical that his research shows harms animals. He doesn’t want to wait for thousands of people to show severe abnormalities from years of eating foods packaged in plastic.

Since their landmark findings in 1997 on low-dosage effects of Bisphenol A (BPA) on mice, vom Saal and Wade Welshons, researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia, have labored to warn the public and government agencies of the dangers associated with the prevalent chemical that is used in many plastic products, including baby bottles, food-storage containers and toys.

In May vom Saal presented new scientific evidence about this chemical at the Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference, an annual conference sponsored by several governmental agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to examine the possible dangers of toxic chemicals.

<snip>

Bisphenol A is an artificial estrogen, but it is bonded together in a chain of bisphenol A molecules to create the plastic called polycarbonate as well as resins that are used to line cans and as dental sealants. Each day, consumers use several plastic products that contain BPA, a chemical found in the 1930s by a Nobel-prize winning scientist to act like estrogen. In the 1950s, chemists linked BPA together to create polycarbonate material, and companies began using the chemical in plastics production. Today, BPA, one of the top 50 chemicals in production in the United States, generates billions of dollars for the plastics industry, which produces about 2.5 billion pounds of the chemical per year.

...much more...

:(

it seems that though we, the taxpayers in the USoA, pay for the research, not one bit of it gets disseminated through our media - the corporate kingdom refuses to look at the ruination that they cause and the inhabits and the environment continue to pay the ultimate price.

:(

and what their ratings are:

http://www.earthodyssey.com/symbols.html

This will help you determine if you really want to purchase a product based on the content of the packaging.

plastics contain xenoestrogens, like many other things in our environment.

Xenoestrogens can cause cancer, weight gain, due to hormonal imbalances.

A great product is at www.kleankanteen.com. A stainless steel water bottle. Guaranteed not to leach.

Here is a fantastic article from Jan Lundbergs fantastic site www.culturechange.org
Plastic is evil stuff.
The link to the article;http://www.culturechange.org/e-letter-plastics.html


War on Plastic: Rejecting the toxic plague

by Jan Lundberg

Plastic as toxic trash is barely an issue with health advocates, environmentalists, and even those of us looking toward the post-petroleum world. Instead, "recycling" and future "bioplastics" distract people from keeping plastic out of their lives. As the evidence from our trashed oceans and damage to human health mounts, plastic can no longer be conveniently ignored. The days of naive trust and denial need to be put behind us, and a war on plastics declared now.

If this sounds unreasonable, decide after reading this report. One recently discovered principle about exposure to toxic chemicals is that very low concentrations can trigger worse damage in many individuals than larger exposures, in part due to the sensitivity of our genes. Also, potency is not possible to predict when various plastics' chemicals combine in our bodies and cause synergistic reactions later on.



Here are a few of the critical, insurmountable challenges from plastic's production and disposal:



• Clear plastic food wrap contains up to 30% DEHP . This substance is also in intravenous blood bags. This poison was identified by the State of California for its Proposition 65 list of carcinogens and mutagens, but industry pressure got the listing weakened.



• In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it was found that 1,000,000 times more toxins are concentrated on the plastic debris and plastic particles than in ambient sea water;

They had a great show a few years ago called "The Middle of Nowhere" which talks about this (of a similar subject). The part about plastic is at the beginning of the show, and talks about this HUGE plastic garbage area, where TONS of plastic bottles and bags float to and collect.

I guess it's because of the ocean currents, the plastic ends up collecting in the doldrums and the trash collection is MILES long.

Here's the link:

<http://207.70.82.73/ra/253.ram>
<http://www.thislife.org/>

The Middle of Nowhere
12/5/03
Episode 253

Stories from far away, hard-to-get-to places, where all rules are off, and nefarious things happen because no one's looking, and there's no one to appeal to.
Prologue. Ira talks with sailor and researcher Captain Charles Moore about a gigantic area in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as far away from land as you can get, that's filling with plastic trash. There are five spots like this on the world's oceans. For more, check out Captain Moore's website. (3 minutes)

(The rest of that show is really good too, if you've never heard of the Island of Nauru, I'm sure you and most here would find it interesting (it has to do with a place to launder money and Afghani Refugees caught in a sort of Limbo)

Act One. No Island Is An Island. Nauru is a tiny island, population 12,000, a third of the size of Manhattan, far from anywhere, yet at the center of several of the decade's biggest global events. Jack Hitt tells the untold story of this dot in the middle of the Pacific and its involvement in the bankrupting of the Russian economy, global terrorism, North Korean defectors, the end of the world, and the late 80's theatrical flop of a London musical based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci, called Leonardo, A Portrait of Love. (30 minutes)
Act Two. On Hold, No One Can Hear You Scream. This American Life Senior Producer Julie Snyder found herself in a ten-month battle with her phone company (MCI Worldcom), which had overcharged her $946.36. She spent hours on hold, in a bureaucratic nowhere. No one seemed able to fix her problem, and there was no way she could make the company pay her back for all her lost time and aggravation. Finally, she enlists the aid of the national media. Specifically, This American Life host Ira Glass. You can register a complaint about the phone company at the Better Business Bureau or at the FCC. To reach Jim Myers, the MCI executive interviewed in the story, email him at jim.myers@mci.com. (22 minutes)
Song: The Platters, "Washed Ashore (On a Lonely Island in the Sea)"

The Amish are on to something. :)

If you insist on using products like Saran-Wrap, never let them touch the food.

I was just showing some glass containers to a friend yesterday and explaining why I would not be using plastic containers anymore.

I would highly suggest that you get rid of your nalgene bottles- and whatever you do- don't put them in the dishwater or use harsh detergents on them or put hot drinks in them (especially with caffeine)- all of these things hav been proven to cause BPA monomers (the estrogen mimic) to leach out in amounts consistent with hormonal effects-

This is the so called "low dose hypothesis" where small amounts of endocrine disruptors follow a non-monotonic (inverted U shape) dose response curve.

It is often said that the dose makes the poison- but in this case- a very small dose (in the 10-50 microgram range) is more toxic than a substantially higher dose.

It's counterintuitive at first, but it makes sense when you think about how hormones work and are regulated by our bodies natual feedback mechanisms.

There's going to be a link made to testicular cancer too- as well as miscarraiges.

Mark my words on that.

There are also softer ones made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) that should not be an immediate concern. The hard ones trademarked LEXAN are polycarbonate, though.

are what you want to get rid of.

Here's a partial list of polycarbonite trade names:

Lexan® (Nalgene), Panlite®, Calibre®, Trirex®, Makrolon®, Ashlene®, Apec®, Hiloy®, and Naxell.™

www.thegreenguide.com. I can't find it now, but I downloaded and printed a handy wallet size chart on all this...Went on an anti-plastic binge awhile ago....

http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Controversies/plastic.htm


Believe it or not....back around 1980 I worked for the U.S. Testing Company and we ran focus groups about clear, plastic soda bottles which were just being introduced....I will never forget it!! The beginning of the end!!!!

huge amount into the food. When I first heard of this, I switched everything over to Glass.

Anyone can sign it all the same. Here is the Detox campaign page:
http://www.panda.org/campaign/detox/reduce_your_risks/

Direct link to petition - I am signature # 28185
http://panda.panlogic.co.uk/scripts/pop.php?source=1008

Now I will search some more and see if I can find some American based actions.....